How To Protect Your Pans

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Always line your baking sheets.  Tin foil is great because you get a good metal surface, but is easy to crumple up and throw away.  Many cooks are going with silicone baking mats these days.  The great thing about the mats is that nothing will ever stick.  They are completely and totally non- stick.  Unline tin foil, however, baking mats are not disposable.  You have to clean them between uses.  Thanks to the non stick surface, cleaning is not difficult.  Parchment paper is also great for lining a baking sheet.  Not many people know, but parchment paper also contains silicon.  It’s a great surface for baking.  Parchment paper is disposable, but many cooks reuse sheets when they’re not too damaged or soiled.

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How To Prevent Damage

Baking sheets are sturdy kitchen multitaskers, but they are still vulnerable in a few ways.  You’ll be tempted to cut food right on the pan.  Resist this urge.  Transfer the food to a proper cutting board.  Sharp knives can make deep cuts in your pan.  These cuts not only ruin the look of the pan but can also cause warping around cut lines.

You should also avoid the cooking spray.  Foil, silicon mats, and parchment paper should be all you need for non-stick action.  Cooking spray will create an ugly dark brown buildup that can be difficult to clean.

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How To Clean Effectively

Cleaning baking sheets can be tricky.  Despite your best efforts, you probably will still get the terrible brown buildup, especially on the bottom.  Here’s how to handle that.

• First, clean it immediately after using.  Don’t give food residue a chance to linger.  Even if you lined the pan, food may still leak onto the pan surface.
• Second, keep it out of the dishwasher.  Always wash them by hand.
• Third, use a reliable product.  Many cooks use  Bar Keepers Friend, a detergent available in both powder and liquid.  Whatever you do, don’t use anything too abrasive when you clean.  That terrible residue might look perfect for some scraping.  But you won’t get it off that way and baking pans are easily scratched.  Get a good product and let it do the work for you.